According to a recent study from market research firm Graphical Research, the Asia Pacific semiconductor manufacturing equipment market will witness strong growth during the forecast period of 2020-2026. The overall value of the regional industry will exceed $60 billion by the end of the mentioned forecast period. One of the major reasons for this is the rising demand for 5G devices among the regional population.
These chipsets possess small form factors, have faster processing cores and are efficient in energy consumption as well. This will create a favorable environment for the providers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. There is an increase in the number of foundries as well to cater to the rising demand for 5G chipsets.
Samsung Electronics announced in May 2020 that it will launch a 5nm fabrication plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. This plant will produce 5G chipsets backed with AI technology, leading to increased demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment among end-users.
Some of the manufacturers were looking to move their production plants from China to other countries because of high tariff rates and excessive trade restrictions. This move has immensely benefited semiconductor manufacturing equipment providers in countries like India, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. This is because the governments in these countries are introducing incentives and tax benefits to various manufacturers to create a favorable market environment for foreign investors.
On the basis of product, the lithography segment is reported to witness steady growth during the forecast timeline in Asia Pacific. This segment showed strong performance in the year 2019 by capturing almost 30% of the overall market share. This is expected to continue in the future as well because this segment is undergoing tremendous technological advancements and new lithography equipment are being introduced in the market. Canon Inc. announced the launch of FPA-8000iW, which is a semiconductor lithography system, in July 2020 for the Japanese market.
The 3D segment will reportedly showcase strong growth trends during 2020-2026 in Asia Pacific. One of the major reasons being cited for this is the increasing use of cloud computing infrastructure, High-Performance Computing (HPC) devices and AI-backed chipsets. This form of technology has many high-quality features like greater memory capacity, efficient power consumption. It has even taken over the packaging services of certain companies. For example, TSMC launched a 3DFabric technology which offers 3D silicon stacking and advanced packaging for its customers.
Taiwan will be a promising market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry in Asia Pacific region. The Taiwanese government had introduced favorable initiatives to encourage the setup of semiconductor manufacturing equipment plants in the country. The government even announced subsidies worth $334 million to attract foreign investors.
It will even subsidize the cost incurred on research and development done to make these chipsets if they choose to setup their plant there. All these factors will positively impact semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry in the country.
Some of the reputed companies involved providing equipment for semiconductor manufacturing in Asia Pacific are Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, Advantest Corporation, Tokyo Electron Ltd., ULVAC Inc. among many others.